Burma diving review and guest comments

Hi Michael,
Feb: 2006 The trip was brilliant. You are lucky to have Alain & Sunan on the boat
as they are exceptional. Alain is very knowledgable about the geology,
flora & fauna in addition to the underwater life. The crew were great
and Ai is an excellent dive master.
We finally saw mantas for the first time in our long diving career so
this was very special for us. Seahorses, frog fish, ghost pipe fish etc
etc. the list goes on and on.
Please expedite the pdf brochure as we will be leaving Vietnam on 5th
April. We are taking a few years "out" to travel and hope that we will
be back next year. We would really like to take the boat for a month and
explore but unfortunately she can't carry enough fuel - the real reason
is we could not afford it!!
We will work on putting a group together for next year and see what
comes of it.
Thanks for your help with hotels, baterries and transport.
Good luck, keep in touch, if you want a reference for a diving magazine
please let us know.
Send our regards to the Faah Yai.
Best regards,
Tim & Erica

I have read your reviews in Ben Davison’s Undercurrent.

The MV Faah Yai is rated highly. The reviews complement your management and excellent staff. They say your boat visits pristine reefs without much damage from the unfortunate dynamite fishing rampant in that area. The night dives were included. You have delicious Thai and continental cuisine. There is AC in each stateroom with good soundproofing and ventilation. The ship is supposedly outfitted with stabilizers to enhance comfort is rough seas.

If any of the above reviews are no longer accurate please advise, otherwise I would like to book our trip as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Philip and Bobby St. Erne

Email from Andrea Luongo (on Faah Yai 7 - 12 December)

"Thanks for getting in touch, the Faah Yai was fantastic. Burma diving is great, and as compared to similan surin, there is none! Similin and Surin although pretty sites does not have the marine life that Burma does.The Faah Yai itself was a great boat, well maintained, great staff. I have done 7-8 live aboards around the world and this one was a good one. I did find that both Similan and Burma liveaboards are not that flexible with dive schedule, i.e. doing a dawn dive as opposed to the normal 7 or 8 am dive, and also squeezing in an extra dive especially with folks like me who were flying the last day, any ways the trip gets very hi ratings." Thanks!

Communication between Juergen who wants to come on board MV Faah Yai and Monty who has been the second time..

-----Original Message-----
From: ext Juergen Richter
Sent: 04 April, 2002 6:06
To: MacKenzie Montgomery (NMP/Tokyo)
Subject: Diving Myanmar

Hi Montgomery,
we are planning to go to Myanmar with the Faah Yai in the second part of
November (10 days). I want to hear some opinions of divers, who had been
there. We are experienced divers (taking shots) and specially interested in
big fishes.
Michael told me your adress, thank you for cooperativeness.
How was the living on board ? When did you have your trip ? How was the
best, the worst and the "normal" diving ?
Thanx a lot
Juergen Richter

Muenchen-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----

Gesendet: Montag, 8. April 2002 05:17

Betreff: RE: Diving Myanmar2 Hello again Juergen,
OK, let me try again to answer in a bit more detail.
Faah Yai is a nice boat, pleasant and while not luxurious, quite comfortable
compared to a lot of boats. We particulary liked being on a boat of that
size - not too many divers, nor diners at meals... Food is good and they
seem happy to take care of people's requests if you make in advance...
We went in end of April 2001 and March 2002. Conditions were better in
March, but we expected that.
IN March, there was more of what we saw the previous year... Best dive was
.. hmmn, hard to pick. A couple stand out...
I think it was a place called black rock (??) - we entered a sort of canyon
between to rocky pinnacles... the current was suddenly very strong, but we
anchored ourselves by hanging onto some rocks (two hands required!) because
the year before we had seen several types of sharks there... Sure enough,
soon one, then two then seven - then I lost count - big reef sharks - white
tip - we hung therer for 15 or 20 minutes watching them circle around,
sometimes only two meters away from us - big fellows, 2meters in length or
so...impressive. Same dive we also saw nurse sharks, and a leopard shark.
Another dive, a Whale Shark was truly impressive to me.
Mantas. I can't recall which or when, because we saw a lot. Big ones.
Huge schools of Barracuda....
There were a few dives where there wasn't anything big to speak of besides
the usual reef fish, - gorgeous themselves - but Alain and other divermaster
were really good at finding small unusual things - tiny rare crabs, unusual
nudibranches or flatworms.. and I think Alain knows the location of every
seahorse in that ocean - sadly very very few but gorgeous...
There was only one dive were it was a zero out of thirty or so we did and we
knew it was possible there would be nothing - we went very deep in search of
sharks.
There were a few dives that after previously seeing manta or sharks didn't
seem so exciting, but when you think about what we did see, it would have
been a terrific dive in many parts of the world. And no crowds - I think we
only saw other divers two or three times..
All in all, I would highly recommend Faah Yai. Good people, nice boat, good
food, and still some great diving in Myanmar.
Not sure what the weather is like in November, but at any rate, I expect we
will go back again on Faah Yai.
If you have any more speciifc questions, I'd be happy to try and answer. I
think you will be happy on the Faah Yai, and would be curious to hear how
your dive is in November.
Best wishes,
M. MacKenzie

-----Original Message-----
From: ext Juergen Richter
Sent: 08 April, 2002 13:14
To: MacKenzie Montgomery (NMP/Tokyo)
Subject: AW: Diving Myanmar2Hello Montgomery,
thanx for your detailed description. Now it's a little bit easier for us to
say YES to Faah Yai.
Have a goood time
Juergen

Hi, there!

By all means give the guy my e-mail address. I had a terrifc time - the mantas and whale shark - and everything else were awesome. As were the people, especially Alain, gerson and Soonan, whose cooking was outstanding.
Those Germans are going to have a great time!

All the best.........Phil

Michael,
Just wanted to let you know that I had an excellent time on the boat, and
will recommend long and loud to all my friends that they do a burma dive
trip at some point in their careers. Sonja was an excellent teacher, and
Alain knew the sites so well that every dive (except after the ear
infection) was a joy. You've got a great set up going.
Tks again
Dan Brody

Michael,
On behalf of myself and my friend Tchiapeen, thanks for a superb week of
diving in Burma (20-27 Dec). The Faah Yai was very spacious and comfortable. The crew were excellent, particularly Sunam, whos blend of Euro-Thai food was delicious. Please extend our thanks to both her and Alain.
Out of a currently vague idea about chartering the boat among a group of
friends next year, can you let me know what it would cost for a week in both
the high and low season? (Maybe 2 weeks in the low season)
I'd like to ask also about the possibility of low season trips further
afield. Assuming the boat is not undergoing major maintanence, how far is it
possible to go?
I hope Dagmar recieved the cash we owed for the drinks from the taxi driver!
Cheers

Graham Daws

Dear Michael and Dagmar,
We had no contact since a long time.
We hope that you are fine and the business is going well.
Please note that we will be in Thailand from 17.January 2002 until 02.February.
And we would like to join to one of your liveaboard trip to Burma again third time isn't it ? onFaah Yai , we are interested in your longer trip, what you did mention in one of your email. (2 more days up north) .
Pls let me know when you having these trips and what is the availability.
Also I' d like to know if Sunan and Alain will be on board.
And you told me that Monty is also booked a trip with you. For when?
I waiting for your kind reply.
Best regards
Sylvia and George from Hungary

Hello again Michael

First of all sorry for not getting back to you after you emailed me (didn't
see it till much later). Second I want to thank you for all your help in the
arrangements and general info to make to trip a success.

The Faah Yai was all I had hoped for in a live-aboard. The vessel itself was
clean, roomy, seaworthy, well equipped and free of glitches and the Thai
crew was quietly efficient and extremely professional. I'm not sure how much
more I could say other than the mainly Thai food was lovingly prepared by a
most delightful lady...Sunan. Her husband and Dive Coordinator, Alain acted
very professionally.I want to thank you again for all your help and please email if you need or want any more info or maybe some photos.

Kirk

Dear Michael:
My wife and I spent a week aboard the Faah Yai recently (December 12-19) and I'd like first to commend Alain and his crew, and Joe, for making our trip one of the best diving experiences we have ever had (I have been diving since 1986). Alain in particular was a huge help in guiding my wife, who has only been diving for four years, both in terms of helping her choose which dives not to make and how to improve her dive skills, and in so doing, as I said, made the week just a total delight. I am really at a loss for words.
But I will tell you that should we get a chance to return to the region, a not unrealistic possibility, we would definitely try to book again with Alain and the Faah Yai, as they are a great combination.Sincerely,
Peter Shwartz
Dellaruth Video

Hello to all my Friends`s Faah Yai
I hope you still good after my last trip on last November, since long time i was thinking to dive on the Sea Andaman but on September i decided to go there.
After some search on Patong for live aboard i take the decision to book in on your boat (because the Dive Master is French, Alain) my first trip was to Similan and i could aprecciated all the competence for diving as the the choice of the places and all briefing about the precisions about the fish we will see and the currents also the navigation under water.
And after 4 days on Similan trip I booked again to Burma and again I aprecciated the good food made by his wife Alain's Madame Sunan so variated and very well cooked .
And again iI take lots of pictures of seahorses, pipefish, barracudas, marbled stingrays, all kinds of nudibranches, leopard sharks, octopus, gobies, wrasses, morays, and more each time Alain or Alard was there to show me more kinds to get I could see all the careful about my equipment`s photography each time i come out the water.
I am waiting for development of all my slides and I promise you i send same of them.
And i can book in for next trip on Feb 2003 i will came to dive again with it was i pleased and i really enjoyed being with your your Company.
Thanks again take care .
Alberto Pinto

Portugal

Guest comments to one of our Agents

We are both more then happy with our trip on the Faah Yai. Even though
neither of us have never been on a live-aboard before and thus have no
reference we both enjoyed the trip, the crew, the boat and, above all,
the diving. I am glad I stumbled upon your website and made the booking.
This may have been our first trip on a live-aboard, but surely not the
last. Thank you, John, and also send my regards to your norwegian
partner.

Regards

Kurt

Another message to another Agent

If you could please pass it on to your staff, I am sure they will be
pleased to read it!
The trip was great. It is a good small boat with just right number of
divers (not too many). It is simple but it has everything necessary and it
if comfortable. It is designed for diving convenience. Good dive masters
and navigation. Overall planning of dive sites and timing was excellent.
Every day 4 dives (4 day dives or 3+1night instead) were planned. Although
we have not seen many mantas and sharks over there I was excited by rich
macro life of Burmese waters. There are lots of various rays over there.
Water temperature is usually colder than in other places in South East
Asia (wet suite thicker than 3mm would be an advantage).

Thank you,

Sergey and Sasha

And one more...

Yes, it was another great trip. The food was a lot
better this year, because Sunan (sp?) was back on the
boat. And I'm happy, got some really nice pictures of
schools of devil rays.

I guess the only low point was seeing a sea gipsy boat
with a load of shark fins strung out on a line.

Hope to be back, maybe next year,

Rob